Like Calls To Like
by Blue-Inked Frost
Summary: Sometimes opposites attract. Sometimes they…don’t. A tale of light and shadow, of programming and free will. Alternative romance, varied POVs. COMPLETE.
1. Memories And Musings

**DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing. I write this fanfiction for no profit nor expect to receive profit.

**A/N:** I'd blame Lightning Flash for converting me to the dark side of Ace/Sparx, or light side rather, except I haven't been converted. 'Shippers of any persuasion should find this depressing if I've done my job right.

**WARNINGS:** Character death, angst

**Chapter One: Memories and Musings**

She's always been there for him, and vice versa.

I saw her arrive in a flash of light and instantly destroy Anvil, laughing and congratulating herself.

She possessed the ability to openly fight for him, and did so at every opportunity. She was fire and he was air, and they flashed across the sky as I waited below.

From the shadows, I watched, and learned. I have always found it more practical to quietly stand and watch, to observe the light from the cover of darkness.

I fought her many times, and never managed to come to a completely decisive result. I saw her hurt him by mistake–_clumsy fool_—and saw him wake. Her name was the first word on his lips, and I left soon after that, sped on my way by the fuel of her righteous anger.

There was never a chance to fight her again before she was destroyed on the point of her own sword, a fiery end suitable to her. I was not sorry she was gone, though I was grateful that mine was not the hand that sent her to her doom.

He, on the other hand, wanted nothing but her return. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he sent me away in a swirl of light, and we barely spoke again, not even after I'd saved him.

That rescue brought me nothing but a secret dialogue of blackmail and silence, shadowed like most of my dealings. I didn't bother to tell him anything. Besides, he'd have been unable to help me.

In the meantime, there was more shadow-dealing and shapeshifting for me, and I did my best to please Staffhead and Lord Fear as much as I could. I knew the fate of traitors.

When she returned to him again, I wasn't there and knew next to nothing of it until she flew to the attack again.

She blasted me almost before I noticed her, and I was sufficiently enraged that I would have destroyed her if not for his intervention.

Later, she came to continue the fight.

She was always a hot-headed fool, reckless and fiery and impulsive. I never understood what he saw in her. Perhaps he was the calm to her storm.

I did not destroy her. I knew he depended on her, deluded as he was.

I don't know if I'll ever forgive her for her subsequent actions. In all fairness, she did not know she would bring disaster down on all of us, but she came close to costing me the world.

It was her prompting that caused the Rat to rebel, that caused Staffhead to play the blackmail card and force me to seize the Amulet, laying the path to Ace's doom and mine. By the time Staffhead told me, "You'll be next," I had no delusions left regarding my place as an Evil.

In the end, we all lived—her thanks to me, after I chose to imprison her rather than leave her to Googler's tender mercies. Not, of course, that she ever bothered to thank me. Left weakened by the battle, I disappeared shortly after that.

I'd chosen to hide at the Carnival, in one of my many forms, waiting for my powers to return. I hoped he'd come to search for me, but when I realised he'd never come I left for another part of the human world, a store selling crystals and other strange ornaments, where I worked, watching events from a distance, in a variety of morphs. On more than one occasion, I chose the form of a dog, to wander freely in human territory, though somehow Random Virus saw through that disguise. Likely it was because nonormal dog would consider going near that junkyard.

News came to me of the Hollander family needing a housekeeper, and I did my best to gain that job, searching for the pieces of the Amulet.

I've never been one to refuse power or benefit to myself, and later I was grateful for this. It gave me a bargaining chip to keep myself alive.

Somehow, the arrival of the mortal brat to his home catalysed events. Why so much has depended on that child is beyond me. Random Virus accidentally managed to rescue me from some mortal dog-catchers, and Ace and Sparx—together, as they had been almost constantly since Lord Fear had disappeared into the Sixth Dimension—resolved to send their old friend to his original home.

This plan proved as disastrous as any. Instead of the Virus, both Ace and Sparx were sent to the Sixth Dimension, leaving me isolated in the mortal world.

I may have tried to deny it, but I'd known for a while that it was Sparx he was faithful to. In so many ways they were a perfect couple, all gold and red and brightness, the fearless Knights working to drive back the darkness. My shadows could not hold a candle to such brilliant sun.

He wasbold and brave and enraged, and returned flying into the Carnival searching for answers to the emotions that plagued him. I did not kill him. I don't think I could have.

On orders from my villainous superiors, I did my best to prevent her from returning to the mortal dimension. Again I chose to leave her alive, because I knew that if evil won I would die.

She returned in another flash of light, daring and bright and confident, and with her at his side he fought on, as hopeless as that seemed, and together they gained hope.

I asked them for help, once, when I was nearly destroyed by Lord Fear, and it was she who held a sword to my throat while he looked on. I ended up saving them then, too, though I doubt she ever realised the truth behind my actions.

She never did have much of a sense of the subtle, but cunning is after all a quality of evil.

The beginning of the end came with Kilobyte's decision to fight the mortals. She chose to spy on his plans.

I saw a flash of red in that car, but looked away before anyone caught the direction of my stare.

To be frank, I didn't _want_ to know.

She took care of that decision, leaping out and preparing to fight.

_Foolish girl—you had a chance to leave while you still could. Well, I have no choice but to step in, and I _will_ enjoy this._

I think she might have cried his name as she fell from the sky, but her voice was faint as she slipped into unconsciousness.

The Lightning Flash fell to the ground in flames. A funeral pyre. _How apropos._

When he arrived, it was her loss that caused him to cry out in a voice filled with pain, and to seek revenge on his missing comrades. I only wished he'd do the same for me when the time came.

I chose to take his place at the final battlefield, because I loved him. As I lay in his arms fading into the Sixth Dimension, I thought he might have felt the same for me.

Perhaps he did. I wouldn't know.

- -

The hunt was rather…entertaining. A shapeshifter has so many places to hide, after all.

It took me the better part of four days to find her. She was standing at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by six armoured Clansmen, finally in her natural form.

I waited a while before stepping in to remove them from her. She was less-than-immaculate, wild night-dark hair swirling around her face and a long rip across her bright garb. Though ordinarily I would have backed her against any denizen of the Sixth Dimension you'd care to name, she appeared deceptively weak and slender, on the point of complete exhaustion.

I knew something of her capabilities, and decided not to underestimate her a second time, or to give her the chance of harming me.

She chose not to resist me, but something about the look in her eyes and the angle of her neck gave me the impression she was attempting to defy me.

In general, I approve of courage and of spirit. Even when such is directed against me, it makes for an enjoyable hunt. I cannot deny she was...intriguing.

"I should kill you," I told her. "You should thank me for sparing you. This is the third time I could--and should--see you destroyed."

"You would have already done it if that's all you want," she replied.

"I have a right to change my mind," I said, and activated an energy drain.

She started struggling then, desperately trying to escape me, but I gripped her tightly and held her until she collapsed.

I chose to leave her alive, for the time being. She promised to be quite useful in my plans, though I knew I would have to break her of all traces of disloyal emotion.

For a few days I left her in the cage next to the programmer, until I ordered her to be brought to me.

She came with bowed head and bruised face, a zombie on either side of her, and when she first saw me she made sure to lift her head to glare.

Her defiance was amusing. It was a pity I'd have to break her.

I dismissed the zombies, and began to make sure that she would never try to defy me again.

She wasn't much more than skin stretched across fragile bones, impossibly slender and vulnerable. I could have easily wrapped a hand around her waist or neck, and twisted.

There are no rules for the evil, and no mercy for the traitor. No limits.

It was interesting, her struggles and different tones of noise, soft groan to pleading whisper. I got the impression she was trying not to scream.

From my programming I knew, mostly intellectually, that pain and fear were powerful motivators, and used her to confirm that theory.

When I was finished with her, I wrapped a tentacle around her neck, and made sure her programming contained an overriding command of absolute loyalty to me.

Before we left the Sixth Dimension, I set her against the same minions who had originally brought her in, and watched her destroy them all.

She had always been competent when she wished to be, which was after all why I had chosen to spare her.


	2. Into Battle

**Chapter Two: Into Battle**

The Master Programmer proved invaluable to me, transporting the three of us back to the mortal dimension. Without the power of the Amulet, more evils could not be taken from the Sixth Dimension, but I had confidence in my own powers.

"You may leave now, programmer," I told him. "I'll call on you when I want you."

He scuttled off, cowardly as always.

It is a personal shame to me, to be the creation of such a man, and the main reason why I strived to rid this world of such mortal weakness.

As I stood in the gloom, appreciating the look and feel of the mortal world—so much more detailed than the Sixth Dimension, not surprisingly as this was reality—wings beat through the night, and my Fred returned to me.

I felt like the mortal concept, _home at last_.

- -

"The amulet was shattered when we blasted it, but I've found three pieces so far," Mark said, standing in the middle of the Thunder Tower with Ace, Sparx, and Chuck.. "I've been going to the Carnival during the daytime, when there's too many people about for the evils to do anything. Nothing happened when I put them together. Are you the only Lightning Knights?"

"We're not. There've got to be others, from Lightning Knight training camp I think…" Sparx trailed off. "Give me a minute, I'll remember something."

"Don't worry, Sparx," Ace said. "We're the only ones from the ga—on your computer, right, Chuck?"

"Yeah. You're not allowed to get more than you and Sparx."

"The three of us can take on anything. Don't worry about it, kid," Sparx said reassuringly.

"Count that as four." A voice came from the door behind them, and Random Virus wheeled himself into the room.

"I'll fight beside you," he said. "For as long as I can trust myself."

Ace nodded.

"We need all the help we can get," he said. "Welcome back, Random."

- -

Sparx flew over the Carnival, searching.

There was a beep, and looking at the Flash's sensors she realised there was a piece of the amulet nearby.

She jumped down, looked around her, and blasted a target at the shooting booth, which burst open to reveal the glittering fragment.

"Yes! Another piece of the Amulet of Zoar!" She slammed her fist into her palm in jubilation.

"That would be mine," Kilobyte said, leisurely walking towards her. "My thanks."

She turned quickly and called up her sword, and was about to blast Kilobyte when she heard a rustle behind her.

The Rat laughed, and easily scooped up the piece in a paw.

Googler joined in the laughter.

"Bad luck, girlie! Now Googler's gonna make your day get even worse!"

"Not going to happen, clown." She aimed a short blast at him, but he quickly rolled himself into a ball to avoid the swordflame.

Sparx tried to slowly back away as the three evildoers surrounded her…

- -

I laughed.

_This is almost too easy._

"One Lightning Knight down…" I said.

"And two to go," a voice said from behind me.

"Need backup, Sparx?" Random Virus asked.

From the sky, Ace aimed a blast at Googler, while I fought the Virus on his own terms, my fist meeting his claw.

Sparx raised her sword, and advanced towards the Rat, who did his best to dodge a series of blasts.

In a lucky blow, Random sent me flying into a nearby stall. As I got up to return to the fight, I heard the sound of the other Evils preparing to join in.

Anvil laughed.

"Today Anvil crush three Lightning Knights!" he said, and immediately attacked Random.

The smell of roasting meat filled the air, and I saw Sparx blasting Pigface before turning her attention to Anvil.

Ace fell out of the sky, and I instinctively looked up to see the Doom Wagon swooping down for another blast.

On his way down, I saw Fear grab the Rat, and snatch something from his paw, but Random had taken advantage of my momentary distraction, and I needed to concentrate on the fight.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Lightning leap up and return to the air, firing a fierce barrage at Lord Fear.

_The Knight seems rather interested in this battle_¸ I thought. _I wonder just what's influenced this recent burst of vengeance…_

Lady Illusion appeared on the top of the Haunted House roof, and launched a crystal ball in Random's direction.

There was nothing behind her eyes as she jumped down to stand beside me, throwing crystal balls and forcing Random to retreat.

She was wholly my creature now, programmed to be completely loyal.

Random fell back from the onslaught of explosions, and I saw Sparx fly into the air through Anvil's assistance. I heard a loud thud as she landed beside her fellow Knight, and saw him help her up.

The Flash whistled through the air, and Sparx climbed in, trying to strafe the ground as she flew past.

She saw her friend in free-fall after one of Lord Fear's blasts had hit its target, and she called to him.

"Ace! Let's move!"

The Flash sped into the air as on the ground Random Virus wheeled himself away. Anvil tried to stop the cyborg, but with one blow of his claw he sent the minion flying into the air and vanishing.

There was only one Lightning Knight left, Ace, and I watched with mild interest as he stared at Lady Illusion.

_Excellent. This works out nicely._

A crystal ball exploded around him. He looked stunned, and quite possibly was.

"She would be under my control," I said, and smiled.

I noticed the despairing expression in his eyes, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly, but did not move.

It was only her loyalty I commanded.

- -

After I watched Ace leave the carnival, I turned my attention to Lord Fear.

"The last time we fought you ended up in the Sixth Dimension, along with her," he said. "But I'm prepared to negotiate with you, Kilobyte. I'll put this simply. I have a piece of the amulet. They have Random Virus. You have nothing. Work with me and we can win this battle and destroy Ace Lightning."

To a certain extent, he was right. I had my own powers, and the assistance of Fred and Lady Illusion—and this time I'd made sure she would be able to fight him should there be a need—but without the programmer's backup, I was not as powerful as before.

"Agreed," I told him. "We have similar goals, after all."

- -

It was the dead of night, and not one of the Carnival's freaks was stirring. _Probably still regaining energy from the earlier battle._

"Hunt, my pet," I said, and Fred flew to a spot some ten metres from me and stopped next to a booth filled with human foods.

"There? Good."

With a tentacle, I ripped the wrapper off the strange mortal item, and then crushed it to reveal a piece of the amulet.

I noticed with disgust that there was a sticky substance remaining on my tentacle, but chose to ignore it for the time being.

I had Fred search the carnival until dawn, but I found no more pieces.

Random Virus was a formidable asset to the Knights, while within my Evils I knew I would have to eventually deal with Lord Fear. I needed to improve my chances.


	3. Through A Glass, Darkly

**Chapter Three: Through A Glass, Darkly**

There were three of us in the Fortress of Solitude, an odd enough grouping. The creation dictated to his creator, while in the background the woman leaned almost casually against the wall, her face betraying nothing.

"You want more weapons? I haven't got any more characters to release. It can't be done," Rick said.

"Then strengthen the weapons I do possess," I commanded, standing at my full height. What about her?" I gestured to Lady Illusion, who did not move or change in expression.

"You want her upgraded?" He thought for a moment. "I could download the original file, let that merge with her to increase her powers…'

"Then do it, programmer."

"Okay. I'll try to download the original files, patch that over her more recent version, but…"

She interrupted, her face showing more animation than I'd seen for some time.

"No! Please, I don't want to return to what I was…"

I held up a hand to silence her, and she immediately complied. _It's good to know I can still count on her obedience_, I thought.

"Carry on, Programmer," I said.

"There's a small chance of incompatibility, she might reject the original files because they're just too different, first she turned traitor and then you fooled around with her programming…"

I let the implied insult go. "What would happen if the files were incompatible?"

"I don't know. Maybe there'd just be a big explosion. Who knows?" He spread his hands helplessly.

"I'm willing to take that risk. Do it, programmer."

He hurried to obey, typing a few sentences into his computer and inserting a floppy disk. Running a lead from the back of his computer, he threw it to her.

"Hold this," he said.

She looked at me. I repeated the order, and she grasped it.

The so-called Master Programmer flicked a switch, then crouched behind his desk.

I waited, watching, and a stream of green flowed from the computer across the lead, enveloping her in light. She closed her eyes, and her body jerked slightly.

She dropped to her knees in an inner struggle, and the green light around her thickened into smoke, which rose into a long column.

I saw her body change and blur into various shapes, some I'd seen before and others completely unfamiliar to me, the science teacher, a Sixth Dimension zombie, Sparx, the mortal brat, and another human male that I didn't know.

She appeared to split in half, and another shadowy form appeared within the green smoke, gradually gaining substance.

The room exploded in a cloud of thick green-tinted smoke.

The smoke gradually cleared, and I heard the programmer frantically coughing.

I looked across the room to see Lady Illusion, as she was when I first glimpsed her, standing with a crystal ball in her hand. At the sight of me, she made the crystal disappear.

Kneeling at her feet with both hands pressed to her temple was…the Lady Illusion I'd become familiar with in the past weeks, unevenly cropped dark hair just touching her shoulders.

"I'm back," said the standing woman. "I am as I should be, a perfect program bearing no relation to the grovelling traitor before me."

I looked at Rick for an explanation.

He shrugged as best he could while under his desk.

"I told you she'd changed. Instead of upgrading her, the original file gained its own independent existence. They're separate entities now."

I looked at the doppelganger.

"Where do your loyalties lie?"

"I follow my program," she said. "I am evil, and respect you as the giver and taker of power. And I serve Lord Fear, though after this one's efforts I doubt even my apologies would help there. May I have permission to destroy the traitor? She has no right to carry my name and face."

I nodded. "Very well," I said.

She aimed a kick at the kneeling woman, who dodged it and stood.

Her face showed nothing but calm dignity as she watched her carbon copy materialise a crystal ball in her hand.

"My name, according to what I've learned of the human world and ours, is Elspeth Aranya," she told her double, "which you wouldn't know."

They looked at each other for a moment, imperfect reflections of each other, one enraged, the other almost expressionless, one pure in her hatred and obedience to programming and the other…whatever was going on inside there.

The duplicate smiled as she raised the crystal ball to throw it.

"Good, Elspeth. You'll die without shaming my name, then."

As she threw, Lady Illusion—_Elspeth_—jumped to the side, and responded with a crystal of her own.

The two of them launched into a battle, sending the programmer's papers and electronic paraphernalia flying everywhere. The programmer whimpered, and crawled further under his desk. I watched with interest.

They were both formidable, obviously, but the new arrival appeared to have more power while Elspeth remained on the defensive. Deciding to forgo their abilities for the moment, they attacked each other in a vicious display of martial arts.

I was quite impressed by their speed and skill. Then again, she had always been my most competent minion, not that that was much of a compliment.

Elspeth kicked open the door of the Fortress, and the fight spilled into the main room of the building. I followed, leaving the programmer to pick up the debris left in their wake.

The doppelganger landed a spin kick on Elspeth's ribcage, and she staggered back into a table. In a second the double had launched a crystal ball, leaving Elspeth in a cloud of smoke gasping for breath.

As the smoke cleared the double walked over to her, and ripped the left sleeve from her outfit.

"You have no right to take my appearance, traitor. I will destroy you."

She materialised a crystal ball and prepared to throw it.

I lashed out and wrapped a tentacle around her wrist, forcing her to stop.

"I've seen enough," I said. "You've proved your point."

"You'll let her live? With all due respect, Kilobyte, she'll betray you again. You can't trust her!" The double sounded nearly hysterical.

"I don't trust her. But I trust myself. I've made sure her program includes complete loyalty to me."

I used another tentacle to lift Elspeth from the ground. She leaned against a wall, and carefully pulled what remained of her costume together. My eye was briefly drawn to the smooth curves of her form.

I turned back to the other. "You, on the other hand, told me you're loyal to Lord Fear, little as he ever deserved either of you. I can't fully trust you."

The programmer appeared in the doorway, and I faced him.

"Our business here is over," I said. "You've proved quite satisfactory."

Outside, a sound of beating wings became apparent, and I stepped outside to mount Fred.

"Teleport back to the Carnival," I told Lady Illusion.

On the way out, I grabbed Elspeth in a tentacle, and she rode behind me on Fred.

I didn't want to leave those two together for longer than necessary.

**A/N:** Feedback? Yes. Please! Will give cyber earth cookies for concrit.

**Flash**, thanks muchly for the review.


	4. Battle, and Aftermath

**Chapter Four: Battle, and Aftermath**

There were four of us standing ready, myself, Lord Fear, Elspeth, and her double.

I noticed Lady Illusion, glaring with folded arms at Elspeth, standing next to Lord Fear. She'd been attempting to follow her lord around since she returned to the carnival. He'd actually reprimanded her for stalking him. Nevertheless, she was determined to follow her programming and gain absolution for the treachery of the other woman. She'd had to explain the situation of her loyalties to the other minions several times over, and after a while had simply settled to dealing out death glares to anyone who so much as mentioned the word "traitor".

Lady Illusion was cold, and confident, and pure in her complete devotion to her programming. Attractive, in her way, but an empty shell, nothing more than a program. She claimed she'd obey me, fanatical in her loyalty to evil, but I wondered what she'd do if she knew I'd abandoned my own programming some time ago. Nothing that could harm me, obviously, but it could prove interesting. Lady Illusion stood next to her lord again, and I was half-reminded of my arrival in the mortal world, when she'd been the one to try to fight me while he had run. Pathetic creature.

Elspeth stood beside me, her steady gaze avoiding the other two. She'd been silent since we returned from the Programmer's, but even before I'd chosen to reprogram her she'd never had a lot to say for herself. She was equally cold, though I suspected to Ace she'd shown a warmer side of her nature, fragile and glittering as an ice sculpture. She was quiet and subdued, and I wondered how much she was aware of my control over her, and the imminent danger to her lover. Her face was expressionless as usual, and I wasn't sure how much she knew of what was going on, or how much she cared.

"Our plans are complete, and our enemy approaches," I said, and was met with agreement from all sides.

- -

The mortal brat was foolish to wander through our carnival at a lonely time, and we'd used him to lure our greater prey into the trap.

He was bound to a wall by Pigface's slime as we waited for our foes to arrive.

Predictably enough, the Lightning Knights—the three of them—turned up, and I'd made sure I was well prepared for them.

Ace instantly flew to the human's side, and blasted the slime from him before turning to face its originator.

He found it easy enough to send Pigface flying, but he was thrown into the air himself after a well-placed explosion created by Lady Illusion.

"Leave now, kid," Ace said quickly, preparing to fight. "The three of us can take it from here."

The mortal nodded, and ran. I noticed he didn't have his glove, and I did not bother to stop the weak child.

I saw Ace turn to face Lady Illusion, and his eyes widened as he noticed Elspeth in the background, standing beside me.

Lady Illusion attacked him viciously—_trying to make up for the crimes of the other no doubt; she'd said to Lord Fear "I have no feelings of any sort," though I'd suspected there were more than a few elements of hate in her programming—_and he had no choice but to respond.

I could tell he was confused, but he fought on.

Lady Illusion cackled as she threw another explosive at his face.

"And you were the reason why the other betrayed everything? I _will_ destroy you, Ace Lightning."

There was a red blast of swordflame through the air, and she looked up to see Sparx setting the Flash's course for her.

Lady Illusion jumped out of the way, and with the next crystal ball forced her archfoe to leap to the ground and commence a battle on more equal terms.

I saw Ace, staring at Elspeth, react a bit too slowly to dodge Googler, and he fell to the ground. Anvil stood over him.

"Ace confused. Anvil confused too," the thing said, looking at Elspeth and Lady Illusion with furrowed brow. "But Anvil crush anyway!"

Behind me, I heard the Virus approach, and directed Elspeth to occupy him.

This battle was proving interesting. I've always enjoyed the thrill of the hunt.

I watched Sparx and Lady Illusion in a deadly dance of swordflame and sphere. Neither was winning as yet, but they were both smiling in the exhilaration of battle.

Ace regained his feet, and fired a blast at Lord Fear, leaping into the air as Fear turned the Doom Wagon to bear down on him.

The two of them had been enemies for a long time, and it was interesting to see the symmetry of enmity play itself out: Lady Illusion and Sparx, Ace and Lord Fear, in two fierce battles.

Elspeth—no longer the program, no longer anything I did not authorise—dodged a blow from Random, and leaped onto the Ferris wheel to launch a crystal ball.

The cyborg used his claw to shield himself as best he could, but he could not deflect the explosions. Turning his attention to the Ferris wheel, he started it spinning using his powers.

She tried to hold on to the fast-moving wheel. Currents of electricity started to run through it, and she fell to the ground with a cry.

Random Virus stood over her, and raised his claw.

"Weak," he said. "I have every reason to destroy you."

"I'm not weak," she said, and didn't make any move to rise.

"You are evil. Now run like the coward you are!"

Random slashed his claw through the air to make his point, and she barely flinched. I could tell the cyborg had only hit the air.

"I'm not weak," she repeated, and stood up, folding her arms and looking him in his red-tinged eye.

Random stared, and didn't move.

"Then fight me. Prove you're strong."

"There's more than one kind of strength," she said, and disappeared.

The cyborg blinked, and I waited.

_I'd commanded her to fight him…_

- -

In another part of the battlefield…

"Okay. Fine. I'm confused.What's going on," Sparx said, glaring at her enemy and aiming the sword for another blast.

"I am Lady Illusion," the program said, "and you would be doomed, girl." She threw a crystal ball.

Sparx dodged, and laughed. "And you said you _loved _him. I was right about you."

"_That_ would be the traitor," Lady Illusion said, anger in her voice. "I am evil. Love is for mortals and weaklings."

"I'm still confused…" Sparx said, and raised her sword. "That doesn't matter right now."

She sent a blast of swordflame at her archfoe, and forced her to back into the shooting booth.

Lady Illusion threw another crystal ball, but Sparx easily caught it on the point of her sword, and the next four crystal balls her opponent sent were similarly deflected.

Then it was Sparx' turn to fire, and she sent three powerful blasts flying at her opponent. The final one hit, and Lady Illusion fell to the ground.

Sparx grinned, but turned quickly at Anvil's approach behind her.

She didn't miss a beat, and sent a volley of blasts at Anvil, who disappeared into thin air.

I saw Elspeth reappear behind Random—_ah, excellent, I'm still in control—_and she dodged as he sent his fist towards her.

She couldn't match his strength, but she was fast, and as she avoided his blows she launched several crystal balls, moving almost too fast for my eyes to follow. She was half-smiling, enjoying the use of her abilities.

With a final throw, she knocked him out, and his head flopped down as he shorted out.

The animation I'd seen in her face as she fought disappeared as she realised she'd won.

"Leave him for now," I said, and she returned to stand beside me.

Meanwhile, Ace found himself hard-pressed by foes, Googler using his spiked form to propel himself off the side of the Haunted House to strike Ace in the air, while Lord Fear continued to send blasts at him—_none too discriminatory with regard to aim_, I noticed.

Sparx saw her friend in danger, and called the Flash to take her into the air to defend him.

She was too late. A final blast from Lord Fear, and the Lightning Knight fell out of the sky, his head hitting the roof of the Haunted House with an ominous crash.

"Ace!" I heard a scream, and Sparx swooped past and grabbed him just before he hit the ground. He didn't move as she did her best to gather him into the Flash.

I used a tentacle to try to crash the vehicle into the wall of the Haunted House. Sparx managed to pull off a sharp turn, her face screwed up in concentration, holding on to Ace with one hand, and ended up only scraping the guttering.

The Flash was smoking from the effort, though, and I saw a blast from Lord Fear cause it to stumble in the air again. Even so, Sparx somehow got it to rise.

"This is for Ace!" she said, pure hatred in her voice, and fired at the Doom Wagon, sending it to the ground. I noticed Staffhead fall some distance away from his master, but I didn't intervene.

_If he is destroyed it may be better for me in the long run, I know I'll have to deal with him myself eventually…_

Sparx brought the Flash over for another shot at her skeletal foe.

Behind her, Lady Illusion raised a crystal ball in defence of her lord, and threw.

Her aim was perfect.

_As per programming._

The bomb hit the engine, and the Flash started to smoke. Desperately, Sparx turned it around and started to flee with her live cargo.

I saw a symmetry again between the four of them, Sparx carrying an unconscious Ace from the battlefield, while Lady Illusion stood beside Lord Fear.

I let the two Knights escape, for the time being. They'd fought with courage, and I knew the hunt would be over soon enough.

I'd hoped that when Random Virus roused himself from his slumber he'd be willing to join us, but he wheeled himself away with a green glow in his eyes before I could stop him.

No matter. They would all be gone by tomorrow.

- -

He wasn't conscious for most of that frantic ride. The engine had taken a pretty harsh blast, and I was relieved when I finally saw the Tower. The Flash was still smoking as I landed it as best I could, huge clouds of black rising in the air, though I was more concerned for Ace.

It might have been part of the program, or might have been just because of who he was, but for as long as I can remember I have loved Ace Lightning. It was…almost inevitable, from the time we spent together and all the missions we went on. I've spent all the life I can remember working with him. He was courageous and fearless, and genuinely good, and no matter what did the right thing. No matter what the situation he always had some bad pun or weird joke to make about it, and I found I could laugh with him. Sometimes I'm too impulsive and I don't think things through, but whatever I did he was always there for me, and calmed me down with a single glance and a smile. And, yes, he is very good-looking, but I'd never say so to his face, it'd give him a swelled head. He's…tall and handsome and brave like all the fairytales say, except I wasn't the beautiful princess but the faithful companion, and I doubted he'd even noticed I was a girl.

Not that I'd ever told him how I felt. I'd known for a while there was something between him and Lady Illusion, and, well, I'm not the type to talk about my feelings. I'm much better at blasting stuff. But he's always been my closest friend, ever since my first memories of the Sixth Dimension.

For some reason, when I'm in the mortal world, my memories of the Sixth Dimension are…patchy. The two places are very different. The Sixth Dimension's colourful and bright and blurry, while the mortal world is sharp and detailed and so very _there_. I have a lot of memory files about the mortal world, more than I have for the Sixth Dimension, some of which I don't want to keep. Mostly they involve Ace in danger, or _her_ doing something.

_It's always been personal with you and Ace_, I told her once, and I remembered, back in the Sixth Dimension, the fights between them, all dazzling motion and contrasts. They were opposites, positive and negative, and never surrendered to each other no matter how hard they battled. Lord Fear always preferred to get others to fight for him, and she was his most powerful minion—not that that really says a lot, she's not as good as she thinks she is. And certainly no better than she should be, but that's another rant.

_Flash._

Londres, night. The towers of steel and glass rise high, a man-made jungle in the darkness.

The site of another battle.

He grabs her, and takes off into the air carrying her.

I can't see their faces, but I hope she's scared.

She stops trying to struggle, moves her hands to grip him more tightly, and both of them disappear in a second of bright light.

I speed up the Flash, and try to find them.

I see them reappear just next to a large building, still moving at the same speed, and she angles it so that his head slams into the stone. They both drop and land on the fire escape, and it takes him a while to stand up.

It looks like she's low on energy too, because she attacks with foot and fist rather than using her powers. He tries to block her, but he's dazed, and she's faster and lighter than him. Even so, there's something like a smile on his face.

_The fighting. They like it. It _is_ fun. And it's all we know how to do, really._

I swoop from the sky, and fire at her, and she teleports away.

"Two against one? We'll continue thus later, Lightning," she says as she goes, and I think there's a smile behind her voice.

"Thanks, Sparx," he says absently, after a while, but he's still looking at the point she disappeared from.

_Flash._

It's over, they're defeated. Looks like the prison in the Sixth Dimension's going to be full this time around.

_Wait. She's…_

…_gone. I have to find her._

"Ace! Lady Illusion. She's escaped!"

"Let her go, Sparx. We've got the others, and we probably won't be able to find her. She _is_ a shapeshifter." He shrugs.

"She's around here somewhere. I'll get her."

I call for the Flash, and do a sweep of the streets.

I see the running figure, a nondescript young man in a trenchcoat, and I follow him as he makes his way through the crowds of humans that usually occupy Londres in the daytime.

Some of them look up at me in shock, and I fire through the crowd, pinpointing the beam to hit right on target.

She stumbles, and keeps moving.

By now, a few redcoats have arrived—the usual police force, pretty hopeless compared to _us­_, but after all they're only human—and I alert them to her.

She knocks a redcoat out with a single punch, and grabs his sword. She's nearly powerless, and shifts to her normal form.

There's five of them still standing, and one of her, but she's fast.

_Four…three…_

The three remaining redcoats surround her, but she's not going to give up without a fight. She doesn't have anywhere to run, anyway.

Time for me to step in.

I fire a single beam from the sky, and she collapses in an unconscious heap.

I remember the crowd cheering, and one of the redcoats saluting me.

Ace shrugs, again. "We could have let her go," he says. "It's over."

He was wrong, and I was right. It was she who escaped from prison, pulling out a dagger buried in her arm and killing a guard, rescuing the others, and starting the whole chain of events that led to us coming here.

_Flash._

It's always been personal between those two. They're the strong ones, the _special_ ones, drawing all eyes onto them when they enter a room, the powered ones, travelling in flashes of speed and light.

Me, I'm…more normal. I don't have Ace's powers, and I'm not a freak like her. I'd be almost human if it wasn't for the sword. _Little girl_, she called me once, and I guess compared to her—_how old is she anyway, I bet she's ancient, maybe even older than Lord Fear—_maybe I am. She's beaten me almost every time we've fought. But I've got my own strengths.

There was _something_ between them, I guessed, not that Acesaid anything, or that I was actually in the mortal dimension at the right time. The way she reacted to me, and to Ace accidentally being hurt (very briefly and slightly, it WAS an accident) told me there was something there, not that Ace himself ever told me anything. I didn't let that get in the way of the mutual hatred between her and me, and I remember going to hunt her down in rage. She imprisoned me, and Ace had to come to rescue me, which put _him_ in danger.

And she said she liked him. Hah. That's almost funny, only not in a good way. Plotting something probably, she's always been evil. Playing both sides against the middle, I_ know_ she's evil and just clever enough. I remember that night, the final battle, standing there in the dark trying to fight. She imprisoned Random and me, I felt my energy starting to drain away, and she stood there and laughed.

Later, I saw Ace dancing with her. There was a spark of electricity between them, and I can't deny it was a pretty enough picture, the two of them together in the moonlight, one last farewell.

I can't dance.

_I wished it was me, that he'd turn and realise who his _real_ friends were._

She disappeared—_thank goodness, I hope she's stuck in the Sixth Dimension_—and I didn't fight her again for a while, though I thought I saw a glimpse of her as we left the mortal dimension.

_I remember, running through the Sixth Dimension, Ace had left me alone, I couldn't do anything but run away from the hordes of zombies and vampires and freaks and even walking _catci _for Zoar's sake, it was a nightmare I couldn't leave, and she was there, stopping me from finding Chuckdude—Ace's name for him, everything I do has something to do with Ace—and escaping to freedom. I haven't forgiven her for that, but I haven't forgiven her for anything. And I don't have a reason to._

Despite her efforts, I returned, and soon after fought her, and I won, knocking her off the Flash and into Kilobyte's waiting tentacle. Sure, she lived through that one, but—as I said on a later occasion—_the next time I see her, she is dead meat._

I had my sword to her throat, and let her go when he told me to.

If I didn't care about him, I would have—_should have—_killed her. And she trapped us, drowned us in pig snot, and somehow Ace still seemed to actually like her. _Love _her.

I flew across the Carnival, trying to hurt as many Evils as I could before I went to tell Ace of Kilobyte's plans, and she knocked me out of the sky.

Something else I won't forgive her for.

"Ace…loves Lady Illusion," I told the human girl, trying my best to keep my tone as casual as possible. Somehow she'd figured out that I liked him.

Maybe it had something to do that at least every second sentence I say somehow relates to him. He's the…sun in my life, golden and blazing and these days only flying away from me. I'll be there when he comes back.

_I can't run from my feelings forever. He complains about the human emotions, but I've always had emotions, love for him and hatred for her and the desire to fight._

I couldn't defeat Kilobyte that time, but he was there for all of us again, doing the right thing. Or so I thought.

She appeared on the ground, flickering, and for a few seconds I couldn't think of anything more than hate as he held her in his arms.

She said she loved him, but she was lying.

I saw the look in his eyes, and Random and I both moved forward to comfort our friend.

- -

I remembered what I'd seen that particular day and the day before that, how she'd returned with Kilobyte, and what I'd seen in Ace's face when he realised she was working for his enemy.

_She hurt him. I won't forgive her._

_Ace, I _know _what it's like to lose someone you love. I live it, every day. Why can't you see how I feel about you?_

I remembered there were two of them now—_two too many_—and remained confused. Ace was still miserable, still trying to destroy Kilobyte and Lord Fear at all costs, and I hated her for doing this to him. The man I loved.

He's a fool, but he's still my friend. No matter what.

I saw him stir then, and he opened his eyes and said my name.

- -

**A/N:** Flash, my only reviewer. Thanks a lot. :) I hope you're not still confused. Anyone else who's reading this, I accept: anonymous reviews, flames, constructive criticism, one liners, one worders, and everything in between. If you're reading this, please drop mea review, thanks.


	5. Grim Resolution

**Chapter Five: Grim Resolution**

There were two heroes in the Thunder Tower, Ace bent over the transformer while Random adjusted the television aerial.

"Sparx was right, Ace," Random said to his friend. "She's not your responsibility."

_She'd placed a hand on Ace's shoulder, the two of them flickering red and gold in the dim lighting, using those exact words, trying to comfort him, telling him to let the woman go, that he had other responsibilities, that Lady Illusion could look after herself. She'd kept her arm around him until dawn, when she'd decided to go on a morning patrol, and he'd stayed, still weak from the battle the previous day. Random had just stood there, unsure of how to help his wounded friends except by fixing the Flash. It didn't look like either of them had needed him anyway, absorbed in each other, bound by shared emotions and experiences and a quality Random, despite the several electronic dictionaries that were a part of his memory banks, could only define as_ light

"Kilobyte said he controlled her. Except I don't think I know _which_ her any more. Random, I…I loved her. _Love_ her," he corrected himself. "And I know she needs help."

"Let her go, Ace. Maybe she's always been evil. Either way, there's nothing you can do." Random himself couldn't do much more to help his friend than repeat Sparx' words.

_He'd had a chance to destroy Lady Illusion, one of her anyway, yesterday, and probably should have, but somehow one of those explosions had shaken him, and he'd found his evil side taking over. He hadn't killed her, because she'd been stronger than he'd expected, but he thought he'd come to regret that decision. She'd only won by a trick, distracting his evil side with talk of strength and weakness then knocking him out. He couldn't afford to let his evil side take control again._

"I don't know if I can. These feelings, the emotions…it hurts, but I can't stop them. And sometimes I don't know if I want to. It's hard to explain, it's like a tide sweeping through and carrying me with it, sometimes the wave lifts me somewhere amazing and sometimes…I'm drowning. I can't let go of what I feel for her. At least I feel…real. And there are good feelings, too, like friendship. Take the emotions away and it'd change everything in me."

Ace hadn't told Sparx and Random about the programming, worried about what _they _might do if they realised that they weren't real. It had been hard enough for him to realise he was a created character—_I'm not real, just human entertainment, I don't matter, my whole world doesn't matter._ If it hadn't been for Mark's friendship he thought he'd probably have given up completely.

"Believe me, I understand," Random said. "You have conflicting emotions, I have a conflicting personality."

Ace peeled himself from the transformer, and looked at his friend.

"That makes two of us then," he said, and tried to smile.

"The only thing either of us can do is…to do right and fear not." Random turned to further busy himself with the television.

"You're…probably right," Ace said, but he wasn't looking at Random. "Right. Right."

He started to stretch.

"They're powerful," Ace continued. "And they have the numbers advantage, even with you on our side. We should try to attack as soon as we can."

"I won't be fighting with you," Random said, keeping his back turned. "Yesterday, I lost control. Partly because of _her_. I won't risk you or Sparx."

"We need you, Random," Ace said, walking over to his friend. "And I trust you."

Random looked at him, and shook his head. "I can't trust myself," he said. "I thought I had it under control yesterday, but I was wrong. I think my evil side's coming back, maybe even more powerful than before. I don't want either of you hurt. Say my goodbyes to Sparx. She's confident enough to take on anything, and with you there to support her you'll find them a pushover." He attempted a smile, but it came out more like a grimace.

"Goodbye, old friend. Just don't come looking for me."

He wheeled himself out the door, and Ace stood there for nearly a minute after he'd gone.

- -

"Ace!" Sparx cried, flying in on the Flash. "I saw the ice cream truck and the Doom Wagon and Fred, they're coming this way! I thought I'd warn you, I didn't even stop to fight them…"

"You did well, Sparx," Ace said.

"Can you call Mark?" Sparx asked. "He and Chuckdude could help us, this is big, Ace…"

"They'd be in school right now, Sparx, and I don't want to see them get hurt. This one's going to be bad." There was a look of cold resolution on Ace's face.

"It's just us, right?" Sparx said. "Metalhead's left again."

"He said you were confident enough to handle anything, Sparx. Let's prove him right."

Sparx grinned.

"Let's kick some butt, Ace. It's been far too long."

- -

It was a warm summer's day, and Conestoga Hills High School's maths students were hot and bored. It was hard enough to pay attention to the teacher let alone to anything else, and when a faint sound was heard outside the window barely anyone bothered to expend the effort to turn a head.

Mark stared at the window, searching for the source of a vaguely familiar-sounding giggle.

"Eyes to the front, Hollander," Mr Cheseborough said. "Let us now return to the properties of the number _phi_, frequently found in nature as one of the most perfect numerals known to man…"

Kat looked across at her boyfriend, and tried to catch his eye.

"What is it?" she mouthed.

"Nothing," Mark tried to reply, but Chuck tapped him on the arm and pointed to Mr Cheseborough, who was now staring at the window himself, gaping openly.

"…Class…dismissed…" the teacher said slowly, backing towards the blackboard.

The class didn't need a second invitation, and left the room in a bulging cluster.

"Hollander…"

Mark had been among the last to leave, and turned to look at the teacher.

"Don't worry, Mr Chesborough. I'll look after it for you."

"You'd better, cretin," the teacher said, and in a movement faster than Mark would have expected ran to the window and slammed down the blind.

"Go on…get out…the aliens…" He waved a limp hand in the air, and began a slow collapse, lowering himself onto his desk.

Mark reached for his bag, and pulled out his glove as he made is way down the stairs.

_It's probably nothing_, he thought,_ but I'd better be ready. Just in case._

- -

The Knights were waiting outside the Thunder Tower, both in the air, when we arrived via the conveyances of mortal vehicle, mutated wasp, and Doom Wagon.

_I _thought_ I'd seen something bright speed through the air on my way here. So they were warned. No matter. I don't plan to lose this battle._

I'd made sure to bring my strongest minions, Elspeth, Lady Illusion, Lord Fear, and Anvil, and had sent Googler to the school to prevent the mortals from turning up. Preferably permanently.

Ace chose to aim his first blast at me, and I was more than happy to engage him in an aerial duel.

Elspeth still sat behind me, managing to keep her balance on Fred without so much as touching me—_deliberately?_ I wondered—and I signalled her to teleport inside the Thunder Tower to assist Anvil.

Ace fired again—_more fiercely now Elspeth's disappeared, was that intentional on his part?—_and I dodged.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sparx swoop down to the Tower as I heard a metallic clang.

_Anvil should have been successful, then, in destroying the transformer. Excellent._

I saw Ace begin to aim another blast at me, but before he could fire Lord Fear attacked from behind, and the superhero found that to hold off two foes proved more than doubly difficult. I found it amusing to watch him dodge both of us, and knew the hunt wouldn't last much longer.

_This battle is going precisely my way,_ I thought, as I saw Sparx leap from the Flash into the Thunder Tower for a rematch with Lady Illusion.

- -

In the courtyard, Mark saw a spiked ball bouncing through the air, and fired. Googler unravelled himself. The joker laughed.

"Once Googler crushes little Lightning Knight, no more left!" He released Zip and Snip, and the puppets careened towards Mark.

Mark aimed a few blasts into the air, but missed. The puppets were nearly on him when a basketball came rushing through the air, knocking both of them from him and into the wall.

"Goal!" Kat grinned as she and Chuck rushed up.

Mark took advantage of the distraction to blast Googler with his glove, and the Evil faded away as Mark turned to face his friends.

"Thanks, Kat," he said.

She smiled at him. "No problem."

They looked at each other, identical grins on their faces. Chuck waited a few moments before interrupting.

"Hey, if you two sweethearts would stop staring at each other, as junior Lightning Knights we may have a situation to deal with. Googler was probably sent to be a distraction for us." He sounded pompous, but the look on his face was serious.

Mark frowned thoughtfully.

"Googler said something about 'no more Knights left'…" he began, and then looked at his friends in dismay.

"The Thunder Tower?" Kat said.

"The Thunder Tower," Mark and Chuck replied in unison.

- -

I must admit, the arrival of the humans surprised me at first. I heard a roar from Anvil as blue fire sprung from the mortal's glove.

I was more than confident that the overmuscled minion and Elspeth could keep them busy.

Sparx leaped up on the Thunder Tower's roof in an acrobatic flip, closely followed by Lady Illusion, who was evidently interested in continuing the battle of the previous day.

- -

Mark was trying to hold Anvil back, but the charge in his glove had been drained by the earlier battle with Googler. He saw Kat standing next to the door, flattened between the doorframe and the wall, trying to appear as unobtrusive as possible, and positioned himself between her and Anvil.

Chuck threw a ping-pong racket, bouncing it off one of the horns springing from Anvil's head, in an attempt to distract the oversized minion from advancing on his friend. To Mark's surprise, it worked, and as Anvil turned his attention to his friend Mark was able to use the energy from his glove to fling the Evil into the wall.

Mark tried to fire again, to make the huge creature dissolve back to the carnival, but as he pressed the switch for the third time he realised that he was out of power.

The three humans drew back and clung to each other as an exploding crystal ball filled the room with smoke…

- -

I sent out a tentacle to grab Ace around the ankle, and began to operate an energy drain. He fired on me, and I released him, but not before I'd been able to greatly reduce his power levels.

A few more blasts from Lord Fear sent Ace spiralling down, and he awkwardly landed on the roof of the Thunder Tower, next to Sparx.

She tried to fire a few blasts our way, but her power was weak. All she managed to do was buy some time.

She offered a hand to Ace. He took it, and with her help rose to his feet. There was a spark of electricity between them, and he seemed to gain energy from the brief handclasp.

"Take the Flash and go, Sparx," I heard him say in a quick undertone. "I'll hold them off."

"I can't leave you. We fight together," she said, and squeezed his shoulder before firing again.

They stood back to back, two heroes making a last stand, bright and bold and shining, and though they fought bravely it didn't take long to overcome them.

I allowed the other two to strike the final blow—_such fighting deserves a quicker end than an energy drain_, I thought—and realised that Lord Fear and Lady Illusion had finally triumphed over their arch-enemies.

_The hunt is over. Endgame. The symmetry of the game program, coming to its final chapter. The Knights who never challenged their programmed role as defenders, and the Evils who want nothing more than to honour programming._

The green blast and the crystal ball exploded. I saw a burst of light that seemed to cover the world, bright electricity, colours of incandescent red and blue dashing around each other in a dizzy blur of energy, and when it died down Ace and Sparx were gone.

- -

In the junkyard, Random Virus felt a surge of electricity run from his left wrist—his _real_ wrist, not the machine part of him, the part that still wanted to be a Lightning Knight—to his whole body, and he looked up. He thought he knew the cause, but he didn't want to be right.

- -

"Ace!" I heard the mortal brat cry out.

"No superhero to protect you now," Anvil said, and from below I heard cries and the sound of scampering feet.

I watched the three humans run away. For once, the oversized rhinoceros was right: without the Knights, the mortal brats meant nothing.

"This would be the end of our battle—and of our alliance," Fear said, and before I could turn aimed a blast at Fred.

He let out a wailing howl, and I nearly lost control as he flailed in the air.

On the ground, I saw Anvil, standing over an unconscious Elspeth.

"You will regret this, Lord Fear. I will not spare you again," I said, and used a tentacle to send the Doom Wagon careening towards the ground and crashing into Anvil. Dark smoke started to rise. For a moment everyone's attention was drawn to that spot and away from me.

I swooped over the ground, and picked up Elspeth with a tentacle before directing Fred into the distance. It was difficult to control the wasp, and I wasn't sure exactly what Lord Fear had done to him.

Elspeth's eyes were closed, and this time she slumped against me as I held her on Fred.

Around me flared several blasts from Staffhead, but I paid no attention.

- -

We slid off the giant wasp, landing in the woods some distance from the now-deserted Thunder Tower.

Fred was making a soft wailing noise and moving irregularly, and I bent over him. I didn't like the way he looked.

Elspeth stood next to us, her face expressionless.

"Patience, pet, we will have our revenge," I said, stroking Fred as gently as I could.

He sank to the ground with another wail.

In the distance came the sound of a tinkling tune. I looked up, worried. _The ice-cream truck. Not much time, then._

"It won't be long before our pursuers arrive," I said. "Hold on, Fred—"

A blast of green light seared through the air, and Fred gave one last gasp and was still. I heard the sound of still-distant laughter.

_My only true companion, destroyed. Fear will pay for this._

I stood, and watched him unravel in a shower of light until there was nothing left on the ground but one normal-sized wasp.

I scooped the small body into my hand. It was…incongruous, a small dead insect in my oversized palm, but I did not care.

"Rest in peace, my loyal companion. You have not died for nothing."

A roar erupted from behind Elspeth and me, and I heard the clink of a metal hand punching the ground.

I looked at her, standing there with nothing written on her face.

_In a way she was lucky. I'd stopped her from feeling most things._

"We cannot win this battle," I said, quietly and rapidly. "My powers are…weak, at the moment. Even so, I know Fear can't afford to destroy me. You, on the other hand…"

"I don't think I can leave you," she said, neutrally.

I wrapped a tentacle around her neck.

"I'll set you free," I said. "What do you think?"

"Whatever you want me to think." Her tone was noncommittal.

_Before I reprogrammed her she was a reasonably intelligent individual, _I thought.

There wasn't much time left, and I began to deactivate the programming.

She didn't cry out, though her body was still shaking when I finished.

There was a light in her eyes I was unaccustomed to seeing, and an expression on her face I'd never seen before, and I realised that I'd been successful.

She took two steps towards me, and raised her head to look me in the eye. I thought I saw hatred in her face, mixed with other emotions I had no name for.

"I suppose I should thank you," she said in a rapid whisper. "I won't. You controlled me."

She teleported out, just as a blast lanced through the air and hit me instead, knocking me into a tree.

I couldn't have cared less. I had already lost what I cared for.

"It was always my destiny to be the superior evil," Lord Fear said, grandly. "Now tell me, where did the traitor go?"

"I'm afraid I really can't tell you. Evidently she decided to desert me."

"She won't get far," he said, and nodded at the woman beside him.

"I'll hunt her down," Lady Illusion said, and teleported out in pursuit.

"I haven't forgotten the humiliation you meted out to me, Kilobyte," the skeleton said to me. "It's long past time for my revenge on you."

I'd underestimated him. I'd never thought that possible.

I felt the impact of another blast, and the sound of cackling laughter followed me into the Sixth Dimension.

- -

I realised a flaw in my plan that should have been readily obvious after completing a simple survey on the number of remaining minions in the Sixth Dimension.

It had declined, quite considerably, and I ran scans to find the cause: Ace and Sparx had been recently blasted there, and as a result a number of the creatures I'd wanted to unleash on our world had been destroyed.

It was then I came to an extremely simple conclusion: the Sixth Dimension should no longer be a refuge for any of my foes after being destroyed here.

Considering for a moment, I altered the commands so that ingress and egress from the Sixth Dimension were now severely limited, and began work on a useful little device for _inside_ the Sixth Dimension.

I noted with interest that Kilobyte had just turned up there, and laughed.

My game had just turned deadly.

- -

Kilobyte had set me free, and I had no intention of losing that freedom.

In dog form, I ran into the human world, in desperate flight from my enemies. As I ran, fragments of my older memories began to resurface.

I remembered that I had once loved Ace Lightning, and that I had betrayed Lord Fear for him.

_He was gone now, I remembered, the one I loved destroyed in an instant of flashing light. At the time it had meant little to me, what feelings I possessed for him deeply buried. Now the grief was coming to the surface, but I had no time to weep._

I remembered that Kilobyte had talked of human emotions to me, and at the time I had been concerned to find out if my own emotions would destroy me. That Kilobyte had later hunted me down in the Sixth Dimension, and there bound me exclusively to him.

I remembered that I had started out as a computer program, but ever since my arrival in the human world I had been tormented by strange emotions and new experiences, and had learned for the first time to make choices and to feel. I had known pain and fear as well as love, but I would not have surrendered my memories for anything.

I still wasn't sure if what I was qualified as a person by human standards, but I knew I had the freedom to think and consider precisely what I was—_cogito ergo sum, _don't the humans say? _Sentio ergo sum _would be more appropriate in this case—and that I would never surrender this new experience.

- -

She caught up to me at the junkyard, a fitting enough location. She'd morphed into a far larger dog than my chosen form, a huge hulking confection of long legs and wicked claws and teeth. She would have attracted more attention than my more modest choice, but from the look of her shape most mortals would have feared her.

I allowed myself to return to my natural form, and felt the familiar sense of relief as I stood on two legs again. She followed my example, glaring at me with unbridled hatred.

I assumed she found me completely antithetical to her view of the world and her place in it.

She was my twin, my reflection, my darker opposite. Everything I was, and everything I had once wanted to be. A creature free of emotion and bound by programming, the self I thought I had abandoned a long time ago.

"You can't run any more, traitor, and there's nobody to protect you this time. You've lived far too long," she said, and a crystal ball appeared in her hand.

"And you haven't lived at all," I said. "You're some human's fantasy, a slave in all senses of the word. You'll never know the full gravity of choice, or the vivid sensation of emotion. Whether or not you kill me today, I'll be the one left alive."

"You're lying," she said viciously, "and I will listen to no more of your tale of treachery. You will die now!"

I jumped away from the explosion, and laughed at the expression on her face.

"You'll get the fight you want," I said. "I have to destroy you to destroy every remnant of the slave I once was."

I knew I stood little chance of defeating her. My powers were depleted, and the integrity of her programming demanded she destroy me. A deadly combination.

- -

Random Virus wheeled himself into the Thunder Tower, and noticed the total quiet.

"Ace? Sparx?" he called, but he was met with complete silence.

A cold feeling of dread gripped him as he realised the transformer had been completely destroyed.

The Lightning Flash was still hovering, unable to find its mistress, tracing irregular patterns through the air, the engine beginning to whine. Random shut it down. He didn't want to think about where Sparx probably was.

_They're in the Sixth Dimension_, he told himself. _Ace'll look after Sparx, they've both made it there, and they'll be back as soon as a piece of the Amulet turns up. My friends can't be dead. They _can't _be…_

Random screamed a wordless cry into the air, releasing his grief.

_If I had been there, if I wasn't such a coward, if I hadn't hidden myself away in the junkyard afraid of myself…_

_…I won't run away any more. I'll kill them. I'll destroy them all. They killed my friends. Revenge is all I have left._

_Ace. Sparx. You will not have sacrificed yourselves for nothing._

Random Virus turned away from the destroyed transformer, and set a course for the Carnival.

His right eye was glowing a bright red, but he didn't care.

_Destroy them. I have to kill them all._

- -

Random barely knew what he was doing, but somehow he made it to the Carnival, his entire vision clouded by red rage.

The first figure he saw was the Rat, and with one strike of his claw he threw the rodent into the wall of the Haunted House. The impact knocked several bricks from the structure to the ground, and the Rat didn't move again.

Googler tried to attack from behind, but yelling at the cowardly tactics Random easily met the target head-on.

_Two down. Seven to go._

Anvil offered Random some competition. He lasted nearly a minute under the full force of the Virus' rage.

As Random sent Pigface spinning in a shower of light, he cried, "Weaklings! Let your master come out and show himself!"

_Four down. Five to go._

The zombie lurched out, but with a wave of his hand Random started the carriage ride spinning, and Rotgut faded in a shower of sparks as the heavy car hit him.

Random knew he was out of control, and didn't care. His world was red, brighter than Sparx' hair, brighter than blood, and he needed vengeance. It was all he had left.

_My friends are gone. Five down, four to go._

He saw Lord Fear, and blocked the way into the Haunted House so that the sorcerer would have no choice but to fight him.

_Four to go, and with this one five others gone permanently._

"Coward," Random spat, and let his fist swing. Lord Fear ducked, and Random laughed maniacally.

"You won't defeat me. I will avenge my friends!"

"You've already been defeated, Random Virus," his opponent hissed. "It's the evil side, isn't it? You want to kill everybody—does that ring any bells?"

"My friends are dead. I'll kill everyone that's left!" Random cried. He swung again, and this time he flung the skeleton into a wall.

Lord Fear brought up Staffhead to fire at Random, and briefly halted his progress.

"You've let your evil side take control again. I doubt your _friends_ would approve."

Another green beam hit Random.

"Oh, very good m'Lord!" Staffhead interjected.

_I'll destroy them all_, Random thought.

He held his claw up to shield him from another blast.

"I destroyed Kilobyte, and the other Lady Illusion should also be gone by now," Lord Fear boasted. "That gives me a massive bonus in power. Even you don't stand a chance."

_Only two to go, then._

Random moved forward to attack, and found his claw blocked by Staffhead.

"Stalemate." The toad grinned.

_I'll destroy him. I have to destroy them all._

Random hesitated.

_This is…my evil side talking. Isn't it? I can't fight like this. Can't…give in to my evil. I'm a Lightning Knight. I have to be true to my friends._

_No! I have to destroy! Kill them all!_

_…Not now. I have to…honour my friends. This is for Ace and Sparx._

It took every ounce of strength Random possessed, but he backed away from the battle.

"I'll return to destroy you, Lord Fear. I'm a Lightning Knight. Remember that."

He turned, and wheeled himself from the Carnival.

"Oh, nice one, m'Lord! The Virus is defeated."

Staffhead was gleeful, but his master wasn't so sure.

"Random Virus is gone for today, but he will be back. We can't defeat him with the resources we have. But I do have a plan, my totem of terror. Thanks to the late Kilobyte, we now have two pieces of the Amulet…"

- -

The two women launched into a desperate battle, using the environment of the junkyard to its full potential, turning the cars into a lethal maze and obstacle course.

In the end, it was luck, almost, when one of the women ripped off a fragment of a car door, and leaped into battle with her adversary, using it as a makeshift dagger.

The fragment's edge was sharp, and in a sudden move she stabbed her double in the heart.

There was a gurgling cry. Bright coloured light swirled around both the figures, and Lady Illusion stood alone in the junkyard, her double forever gone.

- -

"I've destroyed the traitor," she told Lord Fear.

"Excellent work, my dear," he said. "I'll need you to take care of another piece of unfinished business."

She waited, and listened quietly.

"The Master Programmer. At the moment, Random Virus is making life quite inconvenient for us. See if this Programmer can be…persuaded…to bring us any minions to assist. Use this piece of the amulet to barter with him."

He dropped a piece of the amulet into her hand.

"Yes, my lord," she said, and disappeared.

**A/N:** **Flash**, **Hyperpsychomaniac**, and **SawCyn-WroteSin**: I love all three of you. Thanks so much for your reviews, especially **Flash**, who sent quite a bit of feedback via email.

Anyone else, I still accept and appreciate any and all reviews. Thank you.


	6. Follow My Programming

**Chapter Six: Follow My Programming**

**A/N:** For those of you who have played the game, this chapter will deserve an AU label, mostly because I like vampires. I also have a Lord of the Rings reference in here, credit to anyone who knows it. I don't own LotR either, but I expect you know who does. Any symbolism in this chapter is probably intentional.

- -

I aimed my sword at a few more vamps, and released a powerful blast. Beside me, Ace swung the Lance to decapitate two of them. We were fighting back to back, doing our jobs.

_This is perfect_, I found myself thinking. _We're together, and everything's normal again._

I wondered for a second, _normal compared to what?_, but I lost that thought in the rush of howling vampires, and forgot all memories of other possibilities.

There was a pit on the floor, and as more vampires poured in through the doorway Ace took my arm and dragged me to it.

I would've said something along the lines of _Ace, are you sure about this_, but in the rush of battle there was no time.

We fell together into what seemed like a bottomless pit, darkness and depth rushing up to meet us.

Ace held me, and our descent was slowed thanks to his flying power.

I would have been afraid, but he was with me.

- -

I turned on my monitors, and surveyed the Sixth Dimension.

Ace and Sparx were blasting zombies, as programmed. _Exactly_ as programmed. By the hour they were becoming less and less individuals, regressing to the archetypes they were designed to be, the Perfect Hero and Fiery Sidekick. Soon they would remember nothing at all about their time in the mortal world, and their experience of emotions.

I'd designed something for Kilobyte as well, but it was taking a while to have any effect. His resolution to no longer follow human programming was after all a stronger thing than the Knights' determination to continue to do right, part of their programming in the first place.

- -

_Let me fall…_

The tunnel went on and on, darkness and quiet and…peace, almost. I couldn't see, but I could feel his arms around me, and that was enough. Like sleeping, or dreaming—and I vaguely remembered dreams like this, clutched in his arms and falling—or in the Time Before, my first memories, suspended in womblike darkness while my world was born.

I shook my head to dispel the clinging memories, and concentrated on the moment. For that second, I had everything I wanted, and no past regrets.

We fell into light, and I blinked a few times before my eyes became accustomed to the glare.

It wasn't sunlight.

"Salamanders," Ace said. "Sparx, watch out!"

I ducked just in time, and a fireball narrowly missed my head and charred the wall behind us.

The world was bright golden fire. We were stuck in the middle of it.

We stood back to back, raising sword and lance, trying to scare off the Salamanders, huge lizardlike things with glittering scales preparing to blast more fireballs from their mouths.

_At least I'm not bored._

"Ace, you have a plan…right?" I whispered. "Tell me you have a plan."

"We'll try Plan C, Sparx."

"Um…do we have a Plan C?"

"We do now. This one _won't _be on the fly, Sparx."

I could tell he was smiling, and I laughed at his confidence.

_Let's get them._

We fired as one, scattering the creatures, then ran through the nearest exit through a tunnel of flame, red and gold flaring about us while we remained in the fire's black heart.

I felt a fireball set my hair alight, and tried to beat it out with my hand. I only managed to fan the fire.

"Sparx, watch out!" he called, and grabbed my head, smothering the flames with his gloves.

"Come on, we need to keep moving," he said, and with a burned glove took my hand.

In the corner of my eye I saw another fireball coming our way.

"Ace, get down!"

His eyes widened. I knocked him onto the ground just in time as the fireball narrowly passed over our bodies.

"Hot in here, isn't it?" he said. "Thanks."

As we ran on we reached a fork in the path, two dark passageways in the midst of flame. I looked at Ace.

"We take the right," he said, and still holding hands we kept running and dodging fireballs.

He used the Lance to clear our path—my sword was less effective in such a fiery setting—and we made it to the White Gate, two pillars of pale marble, a teleportation field thrumming between them.

Ace rested his right hand against the Gate, looking worn out. I realised that I could see his hands through his burned gloves.

"Ace, are you all right?" I asked. I could see that both our reflections in the Gate were flame-blackened and exhausted.

"I'll be fine once we power up, Sparx. Just let me catch my breath."

I reached out a hand to touch one of the lightning bolts on his uniform.

"Take some of my energy, I've got more left than you."

He gently raised his left hand to take mine and lower it.

_Another handclasp, and a feeling rushed through me that might not have had anything to do with powering up, but made me feel stronger anyway. I wondered, what if my hand was bare too, what if there was nothing separating us, touching skin on skin…_

"Once we get through the Gate we'll both be fine, Sparx. You did well."

He smiled at me as another fireball exploded behind us, and a blinding light filled the cave. Before I could return his expression he dragged me through the Gate, still holding my hand.

- -

For the second time, I'd been cast into the Sixth Dimension.

My prison.

Bright colours and whirling sound, a world so different from the sharp detail and clear air of the mortal world.

A mortal creation. A slave's dwelling.

Hell.

_I will take my revenge on the Master Programmer. If I destroy nobody else I will destroy him._

As if in a dream, I walked through the Circus, and remained unchallenged by the minions. That, at least, had not changed.

_I must find the amulet. Gain power. Return to the real world. Before I forget._

I wasn't sure where the last thought came from, and concentrated on finding any amulet pieces that I could.

_The Carnival, night. I had the completed amulet. I would destroy the mortal world, destroy my mortal masters, finally achieve my goals, and prove myself as a conqueror in my own right._

_I was interrupted by three, the human boy, Ace Lightning, and Lord Fear. A final and strange alliance. I'd not considered the brat sufficiently important to feature in my calculations, and had not suspected that Fear would betray me._

_Ace fired a weak blow which I easily deflected—I did not realise until later that 'he' was truly Lady Illusion, another unsuspected betrayal—and then the three fired at once, their collective power achieving what one alone could not. The amulet was destroyed, the pieces scattered between the worlds, and I was blasted into the Sixth Dimension._

_I'd returned, of course, and I'd extracted revenge and loyalty from the traitor, controlled the Master Programmer…_

I stopped the tide of memory flowing through me, and concentrated on my quest.

_The amulet. I…must…find…it…_

I wasn't sure exactly what was happening to me in this dimension, my mind as foggy and imprecise as the Sixth Dimension itself, but I knew what I had to do.

_I'd found one. Lord Fear had two now, and the mortal three. Two remain…_

- -

In a flash of swirling colours blurring into blank space, the White Gate took us to the Blacklands, an area of darkened sun and mist, a land of the quiet of the grave.

Home to the Vampire Clans.

Ace released my hand to hold the Lance more firmly, and I noticed that his gloves had been repaired. We'd both received an upgrade as we passed through.

I knew we'd need it.

He listened, and I thought I heard a howl in the distance.

"Hear anything, Ace?"

"Not yet. If everything goes according to plan we'll pass through here without having to fight too many vamps. I could still use a powerup or two. How about you?"

"Yeah," I said. I was still feeling tired from the Salamanders, and I didn't think he was as confident as he was trying to convince me.

"Let's kick some vampire butt, Ace," I said, and was rewarded with a smile from him.

"We'll go through the Clan Moria area," he said. "There are secret tunnels under it that we can use, they should have hardly any guards."

I saw a silhouette of a vampire patroller in the distance, walking to the edge of the cliff in front of us, and signalled to Ace. We both crouched next to the Gate, huddled together, and stayed there a few minutes after the patroller had turned away, to make sure he was gone.

I followed him up the steep path leading to the clifftop, doing my best not to make a noise. He was effortlessly silent—_probably something to do with the flying thing, lucky bastard._

He paused when we reached the top, and pointed to a set of stone formations in the distance that might once have been a mountain. I noticed that we'd have to get down the cliff again. The path looked even smaller and steeper this time.

"Clan Moria," he said quietly. "It used to be a silver mine I think, before the vampires took it over—" He stopped suddenly, and thought for a moment.

"Never mind," he said, looking as though he'd almost remembered something. "Nothing happened. This is where we need to go under. The secret passages start there."

He pointed to a dark spot to the left of the stone formations, and I noticed we'd have to do some serious climbing to get into the secret entrance. Unless Ace felt like carrying me and flying, and I was pretty sure he didn't have the power for that.

"Then let's get a move on, Ace," I said.

He laughed, and I was glad of that. "Right with you, Sparx."

- -

I soon found a piece—_sensed it_—jammed into a bar of the cage I'd once imprisoned the Programmer in.

_Ironic. Deliberate on the Programmer's part?_

That thought was lost as I turned to search again.

_Have to find the amulet. I have to find the amulet. If I have only one thought to keep, it's that I must find the amulet…_

- -

We slowly clambered down the cliff path, and ducked again to avoid the glance of the vampiric patroller.

"All right, Sparx?" Ace asked, cheerfully.

"Never better. I can match you at climbing any day. Can you move any faster?" I was trying to show bravado, and I hoped I'd succeeded.

She_ could climb anything_, I remembered, and decided I wanted to forget.

"Nearly there," he said quietly, gesturing towards the final stretch of cliff we'd have to climb.

He went first, and gave me a hand to help me up.

It wasn't as hard as I'd expected to find hand- and footholds, and soon I was easily scrabbling along behind him.

- -

"So, Ace and Sparx are gone, Random's gone totally psycho, and Fear's got all the amulet pieces we know about except for yours," Chuck said. "Not good, dude!"

"Funny, that was what Pete said when I told him," Mark said. "Only he didn't say 'dude'."

Kat walked in. "How are things?"

"Not good," Mark said.

"You still have your piece of the amulet," she said. "Maybe you could bring them back."

"I can't until I find another piece of the amulet," Mark told her, fingering the string around his neck.

"You could maybe take it apart and put it together again. How many do you have again?"

"Three."

"Great! You can take it apart and see if rejoining the bits would help you…"

Chuck shook his head. "Not going to happen, it's not in the rulebook," he said. "We could try Random…"

His friends both shook their heads.

"He's too dangerous," Mark said. "Too unpredictable."

"Well then." Kat stepped forward.

Mark noticed that she was suddenly standing very close to him, and felt a little uncomfortable.

"Time to try my idea," she said, and grabbed Mark's amulet.

"Kat, wait, what are you doing?" Chuck asked.

Another girl burst in the door.

"Mark, that's not me!" Kat cried.

"Lady Illusion!" Mark exclaimed, but it was too late.

She morphed into her true shape, still holding Mark's amulet.

"Let go of him!" Kat all but screamed the words.

"Once I have his piece of the amulet, I will." In one swift movement, Lady Illusion ripped the string from Mark's neck.

He raised a hand to his neck, and brought it down dripping with blood.

"Thanks, kid," Lady Illusion said, and disappeared with Mark's amulet.

"Mark! Are you all right?"

Kat—the real Kat—rushed over to him.

"I'll be fine. I'm not sure about the world though…"

The three friends looked at each other in dismay, and Chuck placed one arm around each of his friends.

- -

"Freeze." I barely heard Ace's soft whisper, but I stopped immediately.

Below us were three Moria Clansmen, patrolling just below where we were climbing.

_Don't look up. Wait a second, I probably shouldn't look down either…_

The section I gripped was loose and on the point of crumbling, and I hoped it'd hold.

I heard the vampires' footsteps fading, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A few pebbles detached themselves from my grasp and went cascading down the cliff.

The sound they made was horribly loud in the deathly silence, and I desperately hoped we hadn't been heard.

The footsteps stopped.

_Please don't look up please don't look up…_

I felt a sudden pain in my shoulder, and I looked behind me to see a dart decorated with the Moria symbol unexpectedly sprouting from my skin.

From below, there was a yell, alerting other Clansmen to the intruders.

"Sparx! Hurry!" Ace called, and he scrambled to the top of the cliff, no longer caring about how many rocks he dislodged. I saw a dart hit him in the back, and another one pierced my sleeve. I climbed as quickly as I could, trying to avoid the darts, so I could reach the top and use my sword.

I felt more than saw another dart racing towards my head, and looked just in time to see it rushing towards my eyeball.

I knew I wouldn't have time to dodge.

The next thing I saw was blue fire, and the dart dissolved in mid-air. Several more blasts from Ace's lance whistled past me, and in a few more seconds I was at the top of the cliff and adding my swordflame to his blasts.

It was exhilarating, to fire on the vampires below. Our combined forces easily destroyed them. I looked at Ace and smiled.

_Back in the game again. Let's kick some villain butt!_

He returned my smile, but then I realised that he'd been hit by two more of the darts, one in his leg and another in his back.

He reached for the one in his leg, and pulled it out.

"Could be poisoned, Sparx," he said. "We need to find a powerup. You weren't hit?"

"Once," I said, and yanked out the dart in my shoulder, making sure not to cry out. I saw three gaping wounds appear in his body as he removed all his darts.

"Ace, you—"

"I'll be fine. This way."

- -

I was…near the House of Illusion, I believed, surrounded by crystal glass twisted into irregular shapes.

_Smoke and mirrors. The deceptive traitor._

I wasn't sure quite what my mind was referring to, and abandoned the twitch of memory to concentrate on the possibility of finding another piece of the amulet.

I lashed out with a tentacle, and smashed a crystal to reveal the amulet piece hidden inside.

_I should destroy this place in memory of betrayal. Yet I also remember a competent minion, brave and strong, I released her to save her, maybe the one possible ally I have left…_

I let the memories go as I joined the two pieces of the amulet together.

There was power there, and I felt refreshed somehow. My mind was clear again, and my memory files were blank.

_I have found the two remaining pieces of the amulet. I have no purpose left for myself now. There is only the Program, and the Master Programmer,_ I thought.

- -

He smiled at me, but he was leaning against a wall and looked weakened. We'd spent several hours roaming the caves. A few unlucky vampires had encountered us, but we'd dealt with them as quickly as we could. The real killer was the energy drain, it had been a long time since we'd been able to truly recharge ourselves, and I was pretty sure those darts had been poisoned. Ace was starting to flicker, and I was worried about him.

"Nearly there, Sparx," he said. "Once we leave the Water Gate we're out of vamp territory and safe."

The Water Gate stood on the other side of the cavern, four hollow, transparent pillars forming a square, and we could both hear the water running through it. It was a bright blue-green, and the gravity-defying liquid inside swirled in gentle patterns as it flowed through the structure. It was the only way out. Beyond it I saw a path running through a forest, and I even thought I could see a little sunlight coming through.

"All we have to do is walk out that Gate, and the vampires won't be able to follow us. They can't cross running water. We made it, Sparx."

I heard a small sound, a bump as a pebble hit the ground, and I automatically looked up to the roof to see a few more rocks falling down.

"Ace, I don't like this…" I began.

On the other side of the cavern, there was a dash of bright yellowish light—somehow a sickly, _wrong _colour—and a group of Moria-clan vamps burst through the rock.

Their leader carried the sword that had sliced the stone in two, a vampire lord's witchblade, and the others also possessed dangerous-looking blades.

Above us, another group of Clansmen cascaded down from the roof. This group held deadly-looking bows, all pointed in our direction.

"Uh-oh," I muttered.

The vampire lord smiled cruelly.

"Welcome, Lightning Knights. I hope you weren't so foolish as to think we'd let you go without a proper…reception."

He gestured at the bowmen, and they started to fire.

Ace lifted me into the air, and flying faster than I'd ever had to before, we somehow managed to avoid most of the rain of arrows.

I aimed my sword carefully—_every shot has to count, I can't waste power_—and scattered the bowmen in an aerial attack.

The vampire lord raised his witchblade, and shot a single blow at Ace. We both fell, and I saw the vampires advancing on us.

Ace was definitely flickering now, and I knew he couldn't take much more battering.

I cut a path around us with the Sword of Jacob, driving the nearest vamps back and even destroying a few of them.

_Ace, I can buy you some time at least…_

The vampire lord stepped into the battle, and swung the witchblade at me.

I was trying to stop three vampire swordsmen to my left at once, and I couldn't move to dodge the blow.

Ace stepped in front of me, and I saw a gaping wound appear across his face.

The witchblade struck again, and this time I saw his armour part under the blow.

He raised the Lightning Lance, and parried the next blow, though the force of it drove him to the wall. He was bleeding from several places, in no condition to fight, and with dismay I saw his lance disappear.

_I have to help him._

I dispatched the vampires around me as best as I could, and brought my own sword up to meet the witchblade and protect Ace.

"Want a fight, Dracula?" I said. "Then take this!"

I swung at him, using my signature stroke—_a fast move in the shape of a S, difficult for my opponents to block_—and he countered just in time.

"Single combat, Knight?" he laughed. "Never let it be said that a vampire lord was afraid to take on a mere sidekick. Leave both of them!" he said to his minions.

We exchanged a flurry of blows, and I desperately tried to counter his lunges while attempting my own strikes. His blade flared that ghastly yellow colour as it met mine, which was glowing a bright red. Each time our swords made contact, a shower of sparks exploded into the air, and any vampires near us had to dodge.

"Lose this fight, Knight, and you'll both die," he hissed as we were drawn into a _corps a corps_, glaring at me over our crossed blades. "And, believe me, I'll make sure you do."

I had a really _amusing_ idea how I was going to finish this battle.

The vampire lord was heavier than me, and as I gave him my most menacing stare he gradually forced me backwards. I held my blade steady against his and continued to stand my ground.

_Surprise him. What doesn't he expect me to do?_

"Not bad, girl…for one only a few steps away from a mortal."

_That does it._

I spat in his face, and his head jerked in surprise. I used the opportunity to slam my knee into his groin, and he took a step back in pain.

I didn't waste the distraction, and aimed the point of my blade for his heart.

_A sword's as good as a stake._

My aim was true.

As he died he screamed, a horrible wailing sound filling the air, a deafening echo in the underground cavern. The witchblade glowed, and both the blade and its master disappeared in an explosion of yellow light.

The minions were momentarily shocked at the death of their master, and while they were still blinded by the light I grabbed Ace's hand and helped him to the Gate.

_We're both low on power. If we can just make it to the Gate…_

My last sight of Moria was the left-hand pillar of the Water Gate, and a barbed arrow whistling over my head as we both fell through.

- -

I relaxed in my chair and smiled. Only my monitors saw me, but that was enough for the time being.

I was in total control of the Sixth Dimension. Ace and Sparx were now all but completely dominated by their programming, and Kilobyte had found me two pieces of the amulet. The three of them would prove useful to me later. True, my new program had heavily quarantined the Sixth Dimension, and it would take a tremendous amount of power on this side of the portal for me to summon anything, but I was happy with the success of my programming. And my foes could not take refuge in the Sixth Dimension any more, a definite advantage.

Nevertheless, in my own dimension I was not without my little problems. Somehow over the course of events, I'd lost control of Lord Fear—_probably Kilobyte's fault, when he held me prisoner in the Sixth Dimension_—and I'd never had control over Random Virus. Even so, I had certain strong suspicions about the direction the future would take. I knew that some crisis would happen, and probably soon, and then the Master Programmer would become the true Master. Of everything.

I could wait, for a while.

- -

We had an arm draped around each other, walking away from the Clan Moria holdings as quickly as we could.

Outside the Moria grounds were wild forestlands, and there was actually genuine sunlight. It was peaceful, surprisingly so.

I briefly wondered, _why do I have no memories of peaceful times in the Sixth Dimension, why are the battles and Ace all I know or care about_, but the thought slipped away from me as I turned to Ace and listened to his words.

"Thanks, Sparx. You saved me." He spoke slowly, and I could tell the effort cost him something.

"No problem," I said, giving him a half-smile. "Let's get going before something else finds us."

Neither of us spoke again until we were well away from that place, and we finally relaxed when we spotted a small hut next to a running stream.

The place looked deserted, and had a few useful bonuses hidden inside.

We powered up as best we could, and I was relieved that the many wounds on his body, from the darts and the fight, closed up quickly, meaning that they hadn't been as serious as I'd feared. I felt normal again, and thought that the powerup must have healed the darts' poison as well.

"Remind me to never get in the way of a vampire-lord's witchblade again," he said, and grinned at me.

I returned the smile. "I never got around to thanking you for that, did I?" I said.

"You saved me, so we'll call it even. It's too bad we didn't have—what's happened to the Flash, anyway?" he asked.

He looked slightly puzzled, as though he was trying to remember something from a dream.

"It'll be in another level," I said. "It'll come back."

"Fair enough."

He studied me for a long moment, and I self-consciously brushed my hair to the side.

"What's wrong? Have I got dirt on my nose?"

"On your cheek, and I think it's vampire blood. Let me."

He reached across, and ran a hand over my face. There was a faint spark where we made contact, our complementary charges sparking a small lightning bolt between us.

"It's gone now," he said, but it took him some time to lower his hand.

"Sparx. I never realised before…you've always been there for me. I can't think why I've never seen it before."

He paused, and looked into the distance as if trying to remember something.

A few flashes crossed my memory, something about a green hand resting in his glove while all I could do was look on in torment, but they disappeared from my mind as soon as they appeared.

"I remember something…" he began. "But it's…probably nothing."

"Probably," I agreed, and realised that our faces were very close together. All I could see was my reflection, in his eyes.

I took the opportunity to lean forward, and our lips met.

_It's perfect. Just like it was always programmed to be._

This thought, too, disappeared as I concentrated on nothing but the embrace we were gradually sinking into. _It feels a bit like the pit we fell down before, dark tunnelling taking me away from a different world, my memories melting away as quickly as everything else, and yet there's light, I can tell, fire and air and blazing sun, and I'm with Ace so everything's going to work out…_

**A/N:** Feedback of any sort is, as always, very much appreciated. **Flash** and **Hyperpsychomaniac**, thank you very much for your reviews of the previous chapter.


	7. Light, Refracted

**Chapter Seven: Light, Refracted**

I grinned at her.

"Ah, yes. The program. Most useful. I've been using it as a controlling device for Kilobyte and the others since they were blasted there. I reconfigured the codes to slowly reset all the character files to the original settings. I had to design a special program for Kilobyte, who should be forgetting his time in the mortal world. Before long he'll be mine as before. Your Ace—no, wait, that would be the _other _version of you—shouldn't have anything remotely resembling human feelings. The emotions were a mistake, I admit, but I've rectified that little error."

She didn't respond to my little remark about Ace. "Random Virus is on the rampage," she said. "Lord Fear is offering you the power to bring back those who can help against him." She opened her palm to reveal a piece of the Amulet.

"I'll need three pieces," I told her.

She nodded, and materialised two more inside a crystal ball.

"I know you have the ability to choose just what you bring back. Of course you'll return the pieces."

"I'll bring back the Knights, and Kilobyte," I said. "After they've flattened Random Virus it'll be up to you to defeat them. This game's permanent now, by the way…except for those I want." I laughed.

She nodded. "I'm sure Lord Fear would accept those terms," she said.

_This is excellent. Perfect, in fact. More power to me. Let the Knights and Kilobyte destroy Random Virus and Lord Fear—permanently— and then only those I control will be around. Then I'll use my programming skills to have them take over the world for me. So simple. How gullible can one get? Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. This program works for me, even if she doesn't know it yet._

- -

Our world disappeared, bright colours fading into nothingness, and I felt like I was being sucked down a new tunnel, electricity fizzling around Ace and me in a sea of blue swirls.

_Another level._

We reappeared in a different dimension, a new level of the game. The place looked vaguely like the old Thunder Tower, the Lightning Knight headquarters. For some reason the whole place looked somehow familiar to me, but I didn't spend any time thinking about it.

I whistled and the Flash came to me. I grinned at Ace as I jumped on, and he swooped beside me.

I laughed as I raced him to the Carnival of Doom, where the game would be finished one way or another.

- -

A typical day these times, really, the deranged cyborg marching into the Carnival demanding his revenge, attacking all in sight. The little humans were around; they tried to talk to him, but they might have as well cried to the wind.

The Virus calls all besides him coward. I doubt he's ever encountered anyone stronger than himself, Kilobyte included; he therefore never had a need for the strategic retreat, and judges others accordingly. He's wrong. There is nothing stupider than pointless battle. And suicide is perhaps the most cowardly decision of all.

The world changed when they arrived together, shooting across the sky, bright and dazzling and ready to fight. I watched as they landed outside the gates of the Carnival, and began their march on the powers of evil.

- -

_The Carnival of Doom_, I thought, and wondered why it looked so familiar-yet-different, the same old bad guys in a place not quite what I expected. _Seen one deranged supervillain, you've seen them all._

_It doesn't matter. The program's important. The _fight's _important._

"Random!" I heard Ace exclaim, his voice thick with concern for our friend.

Random turned from exchanging blows with Anvil to look up at us, and I saw his eyes widen in surprise as an instant later a blast of green light hit him from behind. He stumbled, and Ace flew down to defend him.

"Ace!" I heard a voice cry, and saw a young mortal racing towards us, firing a lightning blast from a glove screwed onto his hand.

Ace spared the time for a puzzled glance. "Who are you?"

"Mark. Mark Hollander. You know me."

"I don't. But you should leave, kid, whoever you are. This isn't a place for humans."

Ace continued firing at Lord Fear, and with some surprise I noticed the skeleton jump onto some flying vehicle, luring his archfoe into an aerial battle.

_Since when does Bonehead_ fly_? Doesn't matter. We're still going to win this battle._

I felt something hit the Flash, and turned to see Googler, preparing for another bounce.

"Back _again_, Sparxie?" I heard him giggle. "Don't worry, we'll send you home…for good!"

He released Zip and Snip, and it was all I could do to hold them off with my sword.

- -

In a deadly duel of rushing wind and burning power, I saw Ace attacking his long-term archfoe, both taking to the sky.

The cyborg continued his battle with Anvil, exchanging metallic punches and taunts about strength.

Kilobyte rematerialised from the Ferris wheel, and flung Anvil aside with a single tentacle.

"I don't mind picking on someone my own size," Random said. "I've been waiting for a chance to finish my battle with you for a long time."

"Give up now, Virus. Your rebellion will cost you everything."

The mortal brat fired the glove again, sending Rotgut dissolving into the golf course. His next shot was aimed at the Doom Wagon's engine, and it plummeted to the ground.

As he fell, Lord Fear extended an arm to grab Ace's ankle. I saw them both crash into the ground.

Kilobyte, temporarily distracted from his battle with Random, released a tentacle to grab the superhero's neck. Random used the distraction of his opponent to land a punch, and Kilobyte released his foe, reeling backwards.

"Nice going, Random," I heard Ace say to the cyborg. "We're here to help."

"I don't need help. You were weak enough to get yourselves blasted into the Sixth Dimension, and since then I've been helping myself." He aimed another punch, at his friend this time, and Ace was flung into the nearest tent. Even helped by the mortal brat, it took him a while to get up.

"You should…leave now, kid. We'll handle things from here," he said, struggling to catch his breath.

The human didn't need to be told a second time—_marginally intelligent than I'd estimated_, I thought—and ran.

- -

_Googler's fast_, I thought he'd once said to me, and he'd been right; it was taking all the strength I had to keep fending off the puppets and their master, whizzing and bouncing around me like wisps of wildfire.

I was too late to see the next move coming, and in a second I was thrown out of the Flash, landing heavily on the ground, my sword impaling itself next to me. In the corner of my eye I saw a flaming, unguided Lightning Flash spinning downwards.

I lifted myself with a groan, reaching out a hand for the hilt, and heard laughter of a different tone.

"Lesson one, Knight: never drop your weapon." The skeleton retracted his arm, holding my sword.

_More ironic…own sword…never mind, that's not important. I can handle this._

I tried to duck the green blast, but it seared my shoulder, leaving a leaking wound. I backed against the wall of a booth, and I didn't think I had an escape route handy.

"While it would be more…poetic…to destroy you with your own sword…this should be far more practical."

Staffhead glowed green, and I tried to prepare myself.

- -

Random's eye turned green. Considering his behaviour lately, in itself that was not surprising. What was interesting at the time was that Kilobyte did notput up much of a fight as the cyborg wheeled himself over to protect his red-haired friend.

- -

I saw the green light flame through the air, and realised a second later that it had never hit me.

Random, flickering, tried to smile at me.

"He used too much power, Sparx…you should win now. Nice work."

Random gestured, and in a crackle of electricity my sword flew to my hand again.

"Random, no!"

_My friend. Dying._

"At least I…saved you, before I lost myself again," he said. "I…won't see you in the Sixth Dimension this time, Sparx…"

He collapsed, and there was nothing left of my friend but my own memory files.

- -

The Master Programmer had achieved one of his goals, nearly at the expense of another of his projects.

Kilobyte smiled grimly, and stood still to watch the battle play itself out.

Googler ricocheted from the sky to attack Sparx a second time. She responded with a furious blast, while Ace attacked the murderer of their friend.

Pigface ran out with a squeal to defend his master, and was gone in an instant with the force of Ace's rage.

Sparx shot a final blow at Googler, and joined Ace to prepare to blast their long-term arch-nemesis.

Lord Fear laughed, an evil cackle.

"You're done for, Lightning. You just haven't figured it out yet. After all…you have no pieces of the Amulet, and I have…this."

He opened his hand to reveal a piece of the Amulet, and made a complicated gesture with Staffhead.

The air became thick with green smoke. Tendrils of green light wrapped themselves around the Knights, who struggled as they were slowly strangled.

I knew what I had to do. _This is too late, I think, but I should save _him_…_

I threw a crystal ball in the hope of destroying the green substance. I was too late.

"Ace—" Sparx called faintly, and disappeared.

He followed her, and nothing was left of them but a flare of blue light which soon faded away.

Staffhead laughed nastily, revelling in the power surge he'd gained from destroying the Knights.

"Bet you thought you were clever, didn't you? Thought you'd disguise yourself as…well, yourself. Well, it's game over this time, traitor."

I dodged the blast, morphed out of my disguise, brushing suddenly-loose hair from my face, and prepared a crystal ball.

Kilobyte had at least freed me from _him_.

I threw, but the crystal disappeared in a blast of green light, and the next blast had me thrown to the wall.

I remember this, I thought dazedly, as grotesque laughter echoed around me. 

There exists a mortal myth that a drowning person relives their life in the moment before their death, and I found myself remembering previous moments, pain just like this, backed against the wall with nowhere to go…

The feelings of déjà vu increased as I saw in my darkening vision a tentacle grab the skeleton, and fling him to the ground.

It felt like an eternity before I realised what I was truly seeing.

"You're lucky," Kilobyte said to me. "Are you going to thank me for saving your li—"

I felt his body, flung to the wall by another blast, crushing me, and the coil of Staffhead binding him.

"Game over, Kilobyte," Lord Fear said. "I'll make sure this is the last time I have to destroy you."

"The Master Programmer—" Kilobyte managed to choke out in a strangled tone.

I didn't waste time wondering about his choice of words, and stretched out a hand—_slightly unorthodox use of shapeshifting power, but I need it—_ to grasp Staffhead around the neck.

_This happened before, too…but this time, I'll finish the job._

The creature turned a rather disgusting shade of purple, and gasped. _Fascinating, really…no logical reason for him or any of us to breathe at all, but this does seem to work…_ I heard some cry from Lord Fear, but paid no attention. _He blackmailed me, he hurt me, at a time when I was defenceless. This is…payback._ Finally—or so it seemed to me, because it couldn't have taken that long—the odious creature disappeared into oblivion.

I knew from the Master Programmer's words that he would not be back. Nor would his master, once I was finished with him.

Kilobyte lashed out with his tentacles, and Lord Fear lay groaning on the ground. I materialised a crystal ball and stood over him.

Surprisingly, he laughed.

"Three times traitor? I really should have predicted this. Even so, you will not destroy me. I am temporarily defenceless, and what would-be _good guy_ kills a defenceless man?"

"I never said I was good," I said, and threw.

There was a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared there was nothing there but the amulet fragment on the ground. I bent to pick it up.

- -

Kilobyte turned to me.

"Well done," he said. "You'll teleport us both to the Master Programmer."

He grabbed me with a tentacle, and I had little choice but to obey.

- -

We arrived in the programmer's inner sanctum, the Fortress of Solitude. He grinned when he saw us.

"You destroyed Lord Fear, then?" he asked Kilobyte.

He nodded.

"Excellent! Well done, both of you. I couldn't control or predict Fear's movements, but now I have you two. The Knights I can predict, but they're in the Sixth Dimension for as long as I want them, and it'll be easy to completely control them. Now, where is the rest of the amulet?"

Kilobyte opened his hand to reveal two pieces.

"I found these in the Sixth Dimension, Master," he said.

"Good," Rick said, and took them from him, adding them to the three he already held.

The programmer turned to me.

"That would make…two of Lord Fear's you have to give me? Once I have the completed amulet I can begin to bring as many minions from the Sixth Dimension as I want. And with you two under my control I'll be finally able to take over the world. It's finally over!"

He broke into a laugh, which quickly turned into a cough. He stopped himself, and looked at me.

"Right, babe, hand them over."

"I'd really rather not," I said.

He looked at me, puzzled for a second. _Humans are quite stupid at times_, I thought, and saw his expression change as he realised what I was.

"Kilobyte! Destroy her!" he said.

I was ready, and jumped to avoid him.

"Kilobyte! Do you remember your wish to avoid human slavery?" I called.

He didn't listen.

"I know only the program," he said.

_He's more powerful than me_, I thought. _But I have to win this battle._

I quickly materialised a crystal ball, and threw it at Kilobyte. It burst harmlessly against his chest.

"Kilobyte, stop her now!" the programmer called, hiding beneath his desk.

I threw another crystal ball, and this time Kilobyte dodged. I saw a computer explode in a cloud of smoke.

The programmer leaped up.

"No!" he cried, and produced a floppy disk from his shirt, running over to another computer.

Kilobyte stood frozen, staring into space.

"Put that down, Programmer," I said. "Is that what you're using to control him?"

I don't think he was listening to my words, he was so keen on getting that disk into the computer.

I threw another crystal, and another explosion broke out

"You fool," the Programmer said, standing shocked and miserable over the destroyed computer. "I just hope Kilobyte destroys you too—"

He broke off, stopped by the tentacle wrapped around his neck.

"I won't destroy her," Kilobyte said. "I'll have to thank her for this. You made a mistake to try to control me again, mortal. I'm nobody's slave."

"Kilobyte, wait! You need me—"

The Master Programmer reached his hands to his neck in a vain attempt to avoid Kilobyte's strangling hold.

"I let you live far too long," Kilobyte said. "I no longer have a _master_."

I watched him tighten his hold, and saw the Master Programmer take a final, desperate gasp for breath. I did not intervene.

- -

It was finally over. I had destroyed my creator and achieved my goal. Thanks to the destruction of the machines, my memories had returned, and I remembered myself. I would no longer be a mortal slave.

I threw the Programmer's body on the ground in disgust.

"Now it's over," I said, and turned to her. "As for you—"

I was almost surprised to see fear in her eyes, and she quickly bent over the corpse, its face a livid purple, and put the Programmer's pieces of the amulet together with her own.

I raised a hand to stop her, but I no longer had power over her—I remembered I'd freed her, and she'd looked at me with hatred in her eyes before making her escape—and she disappeared into the Sixth Dimension in a flash of light.

Her original dimension—and Ace—was only a teleport away, after all.

- -

"Ace, I have the full amulet," she said, and gave it to him. "I trust you."

He took it, and concentrated.

Around him, the world changed.

- -

**A/N:** Once again, many thanks to **Lightning Flash** and **Hyperpsychomaniac** for their reviews. Feedback is, as usual, very much appreciated. I accept anonymous reviews, and love concrit. This is the penultimate chapter, so second last chance to review! I was trying a POV-thing; did you realise who was speaking?


	8. The Perfect Ending

**Chapter Eight: The Perfect Ending**

The Sixth Dimension morphed into a new shape, the old evils of it destroyed and reshaped. The Carnival burst into flame and was razed to the ground, and in the House of Illusion a thousand mirrors shattered. A harsh cyclone seized the Ghost Town and tore it to pieces. Lightning seared the grounds of the Circus, and the mountain was split by an earthquake before crumbling into pieces as thunder clashed. Old landmarks were swallowed up by the ground as a new world was built on the remains.

Elspeth thought she saw the shadow of her other self, screaming and dissolving in a thousand silvered reflections, and turned away to see another face, a woman named Elysia, torn apart and disappearing into the datastream.

_My loyal maid, perhaps the closest I ever had to a friend,_ she thought. _I've betrayed her and all others I once knew._

_- -_

The three of them stood in the centre of a grassy knoll, the remnants of the Sixth Dimension, the only ones who had not been destroyed by the world's remaking. The sky was blue and clear, and in the distance there were birds singing.

"It's over," Ace said. "We've defeated evil once and for all."

The Amulet shimmered, and disappeared in a flurry of dancing motes of light.

He turned to Elspeth. "Er, thanks for your help," he said.

Sparx looked at Elspeth with open shock. "Since when do you help us?" she said incredulously.

Elspeth stared. "Since…for a while. Ace told you nothing?"

"What was there to tell?" Ace said, blankly. "You helped us now, and we won't send you to prison, but I don't remember anything else…"

She looked equally surprised. "I…once thought you cared for me," she said. "Have you forgotten everything?"

Sparx stepped towards Ace, and placed a possessive arm around him. He made no move to dislodge her, and relaxed into her embrace.

"I don't remember you," he said.

_So, it was only two programs I broke,_ she thought.

"If I have made any promises—"

"You haven't," she said. "I understand." She turned, and walked away.

_Love cannot be forced._

- -

Mark and Chuck stood alone in the Thunder Tower. On the floor was a newspaper carrying the headline, "Science Teacher Claims Brutal Murder Work Of Aliens."

"This should work," Chuck said, gesturing to the arrangement of computers. "I modified Rick's program and loaded it into your glove. All we need to do is lure Kilobyte here and it's done. He'll be in prison in the Sixth Dimension, and our world will be saved."

Mark picked up the glove, and put it on.

- -

It didn't take the three humans—Mark, Chuck, and Kat—long to find Kilobyte at the carnival. He was standing relaxed behind the Haunted House, gazing at the Ferris Wheel meditatively, when the humans approached.

"For a human, you've proved quite formidable," Kilobyte said to Mark. "Come to finally destroy me? I have destroyed my creator, and that is all I truly needed to do."

"Yeah, we know," said Mark.

"I saw the body, they even questioned me." Chuck sounded scared. "That was…inhuman."

"I'm not human," Kilobyte said. He sounded amused. "Well? Do your worst."

Mark lifted his hand, and fired.

- -

"Nice work, kid," said Ace, Sparx standing beside him. "We have him in prison in the Sixth Dimension, where he won't harm your world again."

Mark nodded.

"Sounds good. Are you sure you still don't know who I am?"

Ace's brow furrowed in thought.

"Matt? Garth?"

Mark sighed. "Never mind."

"Better close down the communication," Sparx said. "Now everything's over we have two separate worlds and our own business to get back to."

She whispered something in Ace's ear, and he blushed.

"So long, kid. Do right and fear not."

The picture faded and was gone.

The three children stood in silence for a minute.

"Well, that's over," said Chuck. "So, who's up for some ice cream?"

They walked into the sunlight, leaving the Thunder Tower deserted behind them.

- -

There were two of us, standing under bright sunlight and glistening sky.

"It's over, Ace," I said. "And this time it's true."

"That kid said he knew me," Ace said thoughtfully. "And I don't know _what_ happened with Lady Illusion."

"I don't think I remember either."

_I don't think I want to. There's only him. That's all that's ever really mattered, to me._

"We've finished saving our world. What happens next?" He smiled at me, and I knew that this was the first time we'd had the chance to find happiness without the battles and evils.

The sun's light behind his head made it look like he had a halo. _Angel, air and fire…_

"There's just us, now we've saved our world." I leaned forward, and reached up to kiss him. "Us, and a whole new dimension to live in."

"This, I can get used to," he said, returning the embrace.

_Green trees, flowers in bloom, bright sunlight, even a rainbow in the corner of my eye, the person I love. Paradise going on forever, nothing but the finished program and _him_…_

- -

I was surrounded by mirrors, the glittering surfaces reflecting my face in an infinity of worlds, and I smiled and laughed. I was completely myself again, Lady Illusion, untouched by emotions or the pain of choice, and I knew exactly what I had to do. I was evil yet pure, knowing nothing of the burden of decision or morality, and cold and clean and wholly confident

_This is what it used to feel like_, a voice in my head might have told me. _Did you ever want to go back to this? Did you ever wish you had died instead of the other?_

The mirrors shattered then, a thousand sharply glittering fragments whirling around me, cutting into my flesh, red blood staining green skin.

There was loud, horrible shrieking, and I relived the moment of the destruction of the old Sixth Dimension, saw once again the deaths of all those I'd ever known.

They may not have been people, shells of programs with little individuality or choice, but they were mine, and I'd betrayed them.

I woke, screaming and alone.

- -

She came to see me, once, and paused in front of my cell.

I noticed she'd made an effort to change her appearance as much as possible, wearing her hair drawn back into a strict dark bun. A long coat covered her from neck to foot, and underneath that she wore dark human-style clothing.

I stood up, and walked to the energy field separating us.

"Why the visit? Trouble in Paradise?"

She rested a hand on the energy field, leaning towards me. I placed a hand opposite hers, our palms divided by the width of the shimmering barrier.

"You remember, don't you? Everything that's happened since you came to the mortal world. Probably better than I do. I came to see you because you're the only sane one left. Unless it's me who's insane."

"I don't remember everything," I said, "but I do remember the look in Lightning's eyes when he realised you were under my control."

She nodded.

"He doesn't remember me. He cares for _Sparx_." The last word was almost a curse.

I shrugged. "Programming."

"I came to tell you that I'm not going to stay here any more. It's like an…extended honeymoon. They're together, all the time, and it's frankly nauseating. Trees and flowers in bloom and sunsets and rainbows and…the works."

"I understand," I said. "Rescue me and we'll conquer the world together and get our revenge."

"I don't think so," she said, thoughtfully. "I don't think I can forgive you for controlling me. And you don't understand. You've never been…emotional."

"All part of being an Evil Overlord. And I fought for you as much as for everyone else. We were human slaves, you more than any of us, bound to a skeleton, and I was fighting to stop that."

"So you bound me to yourself instead," she said.

"Yes. It was a practical enough solution, and I spared your life. So, were the emotions and the treachery worth it in the end for you?"

"Yes. Even after all the pain, I would not want to become _her_. At least I'm free."

We both knew whom she was referring to.

"I'm not free," I said. "But we've already covered that."

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving. I'll return to the mortal world, I can pass as human. Build myself some sort of life in the real world, stop threatening children. Wish me luck."

"I don't think I can forgive you for leaving me here," I said.

She smiled at that, the only time I'd ever seen her genuinely smile, and turned to leave.

I watched as her slender form was swallowed up by the harsh angles of the prison, and stood there for a long time after she'd disappeared.

**A/N:** Any and all reviews will be very much appreciated. I would especially appreciate feedback regarding my characterisation and romances. This is the last chapter and your last chance to review; please, click the blue button to the bottom left of your screen.


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